Tanks and Plants
- #41
Thanks for that in depth post!
I have read and tried to understand what ion exchange resins do and one of the things I always see it do is drop the pH in the water. I always wonder how CP(chemi-pure) states that it can stabilize pH when ion exchange resins drop your pH. The only way I can see them claiming to stabilize pH is that the amount of ion resins they put inside of the bag will drop the pH and hold it there no matter what your pH is in your tank. So for example your pH is at 8.0 and you put CP in your filter the set amount of ion resins will no matter what drop your pH let's say .2. So now your pH will be set at 7.8 because the set amount of ion resins they put in the bag is supposed to drop the pH .2 degree no matter the pH in the tank.
There was 1 instance on YouTube where a pretty popular youtuber made his own chemi-pure elite and he put in something like 1:1 ratio of carbon, GFO, and ion exchange resins. Shortly after if I remember correctly he made a video that his all his fish had died. He raised Cichlids I think Haps, or Mbunas. I can't remember exactly, but what I think happened is that the amount of ion resins he used crashed his pH so fast that all his fish died. I never did see him make another video about his homemade chemi-pure elite after that.
I also agree with you 100% if it ain't broke don't fix it. But I am they type of person who likes to always try the newest things out there and see how they work. Also if you look at the ion resins used in CP elite and CP blue they are different color. If I am correct the CP blue has a Purigen looking bead in it and the company Brightwell aquatics has a "resin" that also looks like Purigen and says it doesn't take out minor, trace, and major elements in your aquarium. I have used this and it looks exactly like Purigen but it has a softer feel to it and you use table salt to regenerate it. I never understood the table salt method of regenerating your resin.
I think the only way to see if something like CP-green does what it says is to use a TDS meter and take a reading of your water before adding in CPG with your Ferts already in the water and take that reading and then put the CPG in the water and check the levels everyday. The only draw back is that if the levels dro you don't know what exactly is dropping, it could be anything.
For now all I can say is that I really enjoyed this "conversation" as it stimulated my thinking and I haven't had a "conversation" like this for a long time. It's good to have someone who likes to think and break down things. As a student I LOVED science and especially marine biology and these things were never used or thought of in the 90's when I was in HS(it shows you how OLD I am).
I really hope that one day someone can/will figure out what exactly does CP contain and how it works. I guess for now we can only guess at what it does, and as new products come out maybe one day someone can put 2 and 2 together and wah'lah -CP.
Thanks for this invigorating conversation! And Thanks for this awesome Thread!
Brandon
I have read and tried to understand what ion exchange resins do and one of the things I always see it do is drop the pH in the water. I always wonder how CP(chemi-pure) states that it can stabilize pH when ion exchange resins drop your pH. The only way I can see them claiming to stabilize pH is that the amount of ion resins they put inside of the bag will drop the pH and hold it there no matter what your pH is in your tank. So for example your pH is at 8.0 and you put CP in your filter the set amount of ion resins will no matter what drop your pH let's say .2. So now your pH will be set at 7.8 because the set amount of ion resins they put in the bag is supposed to drop the pH .2 degree no matter the pH in the tank.
There was 1 instance on YouTube where a pretty popular youtuber made his own chemi-pure elite and he put in something like 1:1 ratio of carbon, GFO, and ion exchange resins. Shortly after if I remember correctly he made a video that his all his fish had died. He raised Cichlids I think Haps, or Mbunas. I can't remember exactly, but what I think happened is that the amount of ion resins he used crashed his pH so fast that all his fish died. I never did see him make another video about his homemade chemi-pure elite after that.
I also agree with you 100% if it ain't broke don't fix it. But I am they type of person who likes to always try the newest things out there and see how they work. Also if you look at the ion resins used in CP elite and CP blue they are different color. If I am correct the CP blue has a Purigen looking bead in it and the company Brightwell aquatics has a "resin" that also looks like Purigen and says it doesn't take out minor, trace, and major elements in your aquarium. I have used this and it looks exactly like Purigen but it has a softer feel to it and you use table salt to regenerate it. I never understood the table salt method of regenerating your resin.
I think the only way to see if something like CP-green does what it says is to use a TDS meter and take a reading of your water before adding in CPG with your Ferts already in the water and take that reading and then put the CPG in the water and check the levels everyday. The only draw back is that if the levels dro you don't know what exactly is dropping, it could be anything.
For now all I can say is that I really enjoyed this "conversation" as it stimulated my thinking and I haven't had a "conversation" like this for a long time. It's good to have someone who likes to think and break down things. As a student I LOVED science and especially marine biology and these things were never used or thought of in the 90's when I was in HS(it shows you how OLD I am).
I really hope that one day someone can/will figure out what exactly does CP contain and how it works. I guess for now we can only guess at what it does, and as new products come out maybe one day someone can put 2 and 2 together and wah'lah -CP.
Thanks for this invigorating conversation! And Thanks for this awesome Thread!
Brandon